The Clock Strikes One
by Ladyamesindy
Summary: While under house arrest, Commander Jayce Shepard receives a visit from "Big Ben." Rating M just to be safe.


Frustration was eating away at her from the inside out. So much so that she was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on the things she was allowed to focus on, instead of the things that she couldn't.

_THUD!_

Winded, Jayce lay completely still for just a moment, dazed violet eyes staring straight up towards the ceiling, blinking back the blurriness as she tried to re-center herself.

"You okay, Commander?"

Too winded still to chide the Lieutenant for referencing her by her (former) rank (not that he would listen, anyway. In the weeks and months she had been here, it had become sort of their unofficial routine), Jayce barely managed a small nod while trying to suck in huge draughts of air to refill her lungs.

"Then get up and get ready for the next round."

She frowned, eyes narrowing severely. Still unable to speak, she did manage to tilt her head towards the side so she could glare over at the man.

"C'mon," he taunted, "don't tell me you're so out of shape that you can't -"

Jayce finally managed to inhale deeply, felt the burst of energy as enough oxygen entered her lungs, and she forced herself upwards into a crouched position. Eyes still on his, she rasped, "Can't … I?"

The grappling that followed, in theory was a blend of various forms taught to all enlistees upon arrival at basic, but in actuality and between these two was something a little … more. Jayce drew from personal past. From years of training at her brother's hand (or his instigation, anyway), plus the styles she had learned at basic and a few other tricks she had picked up along the way, Jayce had developed a rather unique style; a mixture of martial arts, self-defense and hand to hand combat techniques. The _only_ reason Vega had managed to get her on her back before had been because of her current lack of concentra-

_THUD!_

Jayce hissed out a string of colorful curses that, she noticed with some measure of pride, even had someone like Vega's eyes widening in awe. Rising slowly (again) to her feet, Jayce waved him off and cautiously stepped over beside the bench where they had left towels and bottles of water. After mopping the sweat from her face, she took a long drink from the water bottle before dropping to sit on the bench.

"Commander?"

Jayce shook her head. "No more today, James," she wheezed, still struggling to recover her breath from that last flip.

"Is that what you're gonna tell the Reapers when they appear on our doorstep?" he challenged.

Jayce's glare darkened. "Lieutenant," she rasped harshly, "don't you even _presume_ … to think you can goad me into -"

The sudden flashing of Vega's omni-tool broke both their concentration for the moment. Choosing to opt for downing the rest of her water, Jayce did keep an eye on him as he responded. It appeared, from her side of things, that he had received a message of some sort.

"Ah well," he muttered as he closed down the interface and turned towards her, "doesn't matter anyway. Come on, Commander. You've got a meeting to go to." He grabbed his towel, his bottle and then nodded towards the door.

Blinking back surprise (it had been _weeks_ since she had last been summoned by Alliance Command), Jayce rose to her feet and quickly fell into step with him as they exited the gym. But when she began turning to her right to head back to her quarters so she could shower and change first, Vega reached out, grasped her gently by her shoulder, and turned her towards the left. "Sorry, Commander. Visit first."

"But, I need a shower!" she insisted, hand automatically rising to tuck one of the loosed strands from her ponytail behind her ear.

"No time, ma'am," he told her apologetically.

They covered the rest of the distance in silence, save for their arrival at the conference room. This one, Jayce noted immediately, was a very private one. The one usually reserved for off the record types of discussions. It was the one where she and Admiral Hackett had spoken the one and only time since her return, immediately following her arrival, and she knew it to be free of all listening and recording devices. Turning a startled gaze up to Vega, he nodded and pressed the passcode in to open the door. "I'll be right out here, ma'am," he promised.

"But … who am I supposed to be seeing?" she asked. She hated going into meetings unprepared!

"All I was told was you were to meet 'Big Ben' here and I'm to wait outside." Then, nudging her a bit with his shoulder, he added, "Go on, Commander. If you need me in there, just yell."

Stumbling slightly, Jayce turned and entered the room. She barely noticed the sound of the door closing and securing behind her. Inside, the room was dimly lit, the only brightness coming from the waning afternoon sun peeking through the slats of the blinds covering the windows. It wasn't much, but it was enough so she could see where she was going as she entered the room. For the moment, she noted, she was completely alone. Setting her things aside on the table, she then looked around the room. There was a second door, on the far side (it too required a passcode) and within a few moments of her entry, she heard it opening.

Turning, Jayce saw a hooded figure step inside. She felt the corner of her lip tilt slightly at the sight. She knew that cloak, just as she knew who she would find beneath ….

* * *

His hands rose to lower the hood a few steps inside the room, but he had seen her, observed a wariness he hadn't expected to see on her features turn into something else. Something … softer. A brightness, maybe? Relief? The tilt of the corner of her lip suggested that she knew who he was before he moved, so he felt safe in guessing by the light in her violet eyes that she was happy to see him. Remaining silent, he crossed the rest of the room to stand in front of her.

"Kaidan."

Her whisper was barely audible; hardly more than the breath she expelled at the same moment. Smiling, he lifted a hand to brush a few loose tendrils of hair away from her face.

"What are you doing here?"

Kaidan sighed at her question, both hands dropping to take hers within. "Hackett and Anderson managed to arrange five minutes," he murmured quietly. The room was _supposed_ to be secure, but given the nature of his most recent assignment, he was not going to assume that it was foolproof. As for the rest, five minutes out of her schedule would be barely noticeable. He didn't know if she was aware just how accurately Alliance Command was having her watched, but hopefully, given the way they had scheduled this, pulling her out of her training regimen early, there would be just enough leeway to keep everyone in the dark.

She nodded for him to continue. Tugging gently on her hands, he led her over the to the window where they could look out together, he could place an arm across her shoulder, and still have what he deemed to be relative privacy to speak. Once she was (willingly, he noted) tucked up to his side, he continued. "I'm on an assignment," he explained. "I can't tell you much about it, I'm afraid, but even if I could there's still too much unknown right now."

She tilted her head to look up at him. "Okay."

_Trust_. It was there, deep in her eyes; deep in her tone. He recognized it easily, having been on the receiving end of it on several occasions over the years. Save for that one time on Horizon ….

"All I can tell you is that, next time we meet, you will notice a distinct change."

Jayce blinked. "Change?"

Kaidan nodded. "I can't say more than that, but you will know it when you see it." Sighing softly, he turned to face her. "Just know … I believe in you. Okay?"

Jayce nodded. "Sure," she replied. "But …."

He shook his head, leaning forward at the last minute until their foreheads touched. "Just remember the night before Ilos," he whispered before brushing a kiss across her lips, "and know that I still feel now what I felt back then."

He watched her eyes focus on his, her fingers rising to trace a new line near his eye, the scar at his lip that had always fascinated her. "As do I," she returned after a moment.

Kaidan couldn't resist any longer and gave in to impulse, kissing her fully for a moment longer than he likely should have. _I hope you can say that when next we meet_, he thought. "This may all come to nothing," he added, "but no matter what happens, I will explain all to you just as soon as I can. I promise."

Nodding, Jayce leaned up to kiss him in return. "I will hold you to that."

There was reluctance when they broke apart this time. For his part, it was to leave her here, for all intents, alone under house arrest. For her part? Kaidan knew how she felt about him. During their few brief encounters since her return, she had made it clear enough that the feelings that had begun to develop between them two years, now three, ago had been real enough. He just hoped it would stand the test it was about to encounter.

Taking one last, lingering minute to press his hand to her cheek, he managed a smile as she moved to replace the hood atop his head before moving her hand to cover his and squeeze gently. _Good bye_ was clear enough in the intent. Her smile was enough thanks. At the last second, as he began pulling his hand away, her head turned, her lips meeting his palm to place a kiss there. His smile deepened. _Stay safe._

With a nod of affirmation, he moved around her and exited the way that he had come.

* * *

Watching him leave her was probably one of the most difficult things Jayce would ever have to do. And yet, she had done it before. The last time, sending him to the escape pods while she went to the bridge to assist Joker in his escape. She hoped the outcome this time would be more positive.

After the door shut behind him, Jayce retrieved her towel and bottle she had placed on the table and head back to her door. "James," she called out. The door opened a moment later. "Let's go," she told him.

He nodded. "Got it, Commander," he replied, using his hand to guide her down the side hall and back out to the main hallway that would lead to the detention center. He was just opening the door to her cell when he ventured, "Everything okay?"

Jayce turned to face him, her face a neutral mask. Kaidan had implied that something was up. She was guessing by the way that he had snuck in to see her that others weren't supposed to know yet. The only people she _knew_ to be safe, as mentioned by him, were Anderson and Hackett. "Fine," she replied, turning towards the attached bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Dinner tonight?"

If James was disconcerted by her sudden shifting of topic, he didn't let it show. "Burgers, fries, apple pie," he told her. "Or, what passes for that in military chow," he added.

Jayce chuckled. "The burger and fries should be good," she replied as she entered the other room. "The pie you might want to reserve judgement."

Closing the door behind her, Jayce took a moment to simply stand there, leaning against it, forehead pressed against the barricade. _Only time will tell_, she reminded herself as she forced away any anxiety of the unknown that might be filtering through. Kaidan wanted her to trust him. She had on a couple of occasions since her return. She had no reason not to right now. _I still feel now what I felt back then._ Jayce smiled as she stepped under the warm spray. The obvious reaction to such a statement was that he still cared about her, wanted to revive their relationship to previous levels. However, also knew there was a deeper meaning to it and that was most likely what he was after.

_His touch was like a fire against her skin, burning a path from head to toe - or maybe that was just a normal response. Jayce really didn't know. In some ways it was frightening for her - she had never been with anyone in all her years before meeting Kaidan. There might have been opportunities along the way, but she had never come upon any that had remotely interested her. Until Kaidan. _

_As he rolled their bodies, leaning over her, staring down at her so intently, Jayce caught his eyes with hers first, then lifted a hand to his cheek. "I trust you," she told him with all sincerity, "like I've never trusted anyone before."_

_That gave Kaidan pause and he stared down at her. "Never?"_

_She shook her head. "Never. I … have your six," she promised._

_He reached up then, pulling her hand down to press it above his heart. "And I, yours," he echoed. _

_Jayce nodded, a smile returning as he kissed her again. All was as it should be…._


End file.
